1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to the provision of labeled nucleic acids suitable for hybridization assays.
2. Background Information
In application Ser. No. 611,668, filed May 18, 1984, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,454, there is described a photochemical method of labelling nucleic acids for detection purposes in hybridization assays for the determination of specific polynucleotide sequences. The assays are of the type described in application Ser. No. 815,694, filed Jan. 2, 1986, now abandoned.
The labeled probes of application Ser. No. 661,668 comprise (a) a nucleic acid component, (b) a nucleic acid-binding ligand photochemically linked to the nucleic acid component, and (c) a label chemically linked to (b). These probes generally perform quite satisfactorily, but in some instances it is desirable to improve their performance.